Macc Life

Originally Darlo were to be in Cleethorpes today playing Grimsby and since a few of us were not keen on going there, we thought it would be the perfect time to make a nostalgic trip to Macclesfield and the Waters Green Tavern in particular.

As luck would have it, the league game was postponed as Darlo were to play Salisbury City in the quarter final of the FA Trophy.

However as train tickets were almost £80 by the time the draw was made, I decided to stick to the original plan.

(left) The Treacle Tap

There was some confusion about opening time and I was under the impression the WGT wouldn't open until noon so after a mooch around the town I headed for a new pub, the Treacle Tap.

By this time I'd bumped into Paul, my Wycombe chum who was up for their game at Moss Rose. He was accompanied by his mates Dave and Barry who tend to join him when there's good drinking to be had.

As we approached I could see that Lance had beaten us to it and was at the bar ordering as we entered. The Treacle Tap appears to have been a shop or restaurant that has been turned into a pub - all stripped wood and dining tables - but it offers a choice of three ales from small, local breweries. Like a mini-Number Twenty-2.

We had the option of Summer Wine Boreas, Beartown Bareass and Bollington Long Hop - the latter being replaced more or less immediately by Offbeat Brewery Oddball Red. The Boreass was a lovely 5% pale ale - maybe a bit strong for the first of the day but an excellent drop.

I was the first to head off to the Waters Green Tavern which had actually opened at 11am and landlord Brian and barmaid Ann were patiently waiting, wondering where we were. Ooops!

Colin arrived at noon, having just missed me at the Treacle Tap, and then a gaggle of my Macclesfield chums turned up to see me.

Landlord Brian is a man who loves pale ales and the beers on tap today were a testament to this: Kelham Island Pale Rider, Ossett Silver King, Pheonix Low VAT Bitter, Acorn Barnsley Bitter, George Wright Blonde and Derwent Blonde , plus a cider from Gwynt y Ddraig, Haymaker. All in top nick.

I had a taste of most of them except for the Pale Rider plus a pint of the cider. No holding back today.

After catching up with the news from the Macclesfield mob, Colin and I then left Lance to his own devices in the WGT and took the train to Manchester and a short walk to the city's latest ale house, the Port Street Beer House.

(left) Is it a shop? Is it a pub? No, it's the Port Street Beer House

It has the most unpreposing exterior which meant we almost walked past it. In fact when we were sat with our first pint we spotted Brian wandering past on the other side of the road. It was very tempting to let him wander off but we're not like that.

This is a venue very much in the same mould as the Treacle Tap and the Euston Tap, a place where beery old farts and the new generation of young craft beer drinkers can enjoy a beer. I just wish they'd use Draught instead of Draft.

As well as a wide range of bottled beers there was Summer Wine Teleporter, Meantime London Pale Ale, Dark Star Over The Moon and Thornbridge Hopton on tap.

After a couple of beers we wandered off to the next pub - passing other good pubs such as the Crown & Kettle and Bar Fringe that Colin, Martin and I had visited after our televised victory at Rochdale back at the end of the 2009/10 season.

And it was up the Rochdale Road that we went to the famous Marble Arch, brewery tap for the well-regarded Marble brewery. The place was absolutely packed when we got there so it was standing room only at the bar for us.

It is a lovely pub with beatiful tiled walls and has plenty of bar staff to keep the hordes happy. Good helpings of snacks too.

I've had quite a few of their beers over the last year or two - many of them in bottles - and they rarely disappoint. We opted for pints of 3.9 which unfortunately went off just as we were getting a taste for it. We then moved onto pints of Pint (it can get confusing).

(left) Much more traditional - the Marble Arch

From here we moved to our last pub which is also on the Rochdale Road - this is the Angel but it was called the Beer House when I was last in there following a defeat at Bury back in the nineties.

By this time we more or less had enough and so we wandered back to Piccadilly station. Both Colin and Brian could catch earlier trains but I had to wait a while.

Whilst waiting I spied BBC Look North's Clem so had a word with him though he was initially confused by why a Darlo fan wasn't at the game. It seems he been to Bury for the Beeb's Football League show but was heading off back to London for the League Cup final.

I was in a chatty mood so decided I'd make his day and accompany him back to London. It wasn't my train but I resurrected the charm that had seen worked so well for us last week and managed to blag my way on board.

I'm not sure whether Clem was pleased when I came and sat beside him but he was good company and we managed to natter about all things football - he was quite interested in DAFTS and our attitude to football and beer. Who wouldn't be?

By this time I'd found out that we'd won our game against Salisbury and were in the semis of the FA Trophy. Great stuff.

Arriving an hour earlier than originally scheduled, I left Clem at Euston to head to his hotel whilst I went to join Liz, Jenny and Chris who'd had a good victory at Burton (and Coopers Tavern of course) in the Euston Tap and more beer.

Up Hill, Down Dale

I popped along early to King's Cross to check that Martin caught his train to Leeds - he's just so disorganised when left to his own devices - before I headed over to Euston for a last visit for the season to the Double Six for breakfast and then on the 8am train to Manchester.

For once in my life, a Virgin train journey to Manchester actually went to schedule - arriving at Piccadilly in just over two hours - which meant I could get a train from Victoria so that I was in Rochdale by 11am. Why don't they always work like this?

(left) Rochdale Town Hall

The weather was all bright and beautiful, blue skies and lots of sun, so I took the slighty more scenic route into town via the park overlooking the town hall - not at all grim - and then wound my way through the shopping precinct to the delightfully named Toad Lane and our pre-match pub, the Baum.

The pub is right next door to the Rochdale Pioneers Museum which is based in the preserved original store from the early days of the Co-operative movement. But no time for culture today though.

The Baum was brought to my attention in Tandleman's beer blog - a great source for info on pubs in the Manchester area - and Liz took the London Millers there a few weeks ago when they were at Spotland. They enjoyed their visit so much it became their trip of the season.

Beers on offer included Holts Fifth Sense, Black Banjo Stout from local brewery Green Mill, Flowers IPA, Boggart Bogeyed and Phoenix Spotland Gold. I tried the latter two and both were nice, steady session ales in good condition and perfect for early lunchtime drinking.

Colin "I'll have an 'alf" Fletcher wasn't far behind in joining me there - he'd narrowly missed joining me at Victoria station - and predictably he went straight for a half of the stout.

The pub is quite similar to Number Twenty-2 in some respects - off the main circuit of town pubs and with probably a slightly older set of drinkers plus those who pop in for a coffee after visiting the museum next door.

Speaking to the manager though he said he'd had about 100 Port Vale fans dumped on them by the police before the last home game. Lucky Vale fans, less lucky for the bar staff.

(right) The Baum

We left the pub and headed up Spotland Road and just made it into our seats with seconds to spare before kick-off. A decent turnout of Darlo fans given the late re-arrangement of the fixture for television - I'm sure Martin wasn't the only one who lost money on non-refundable rail tickets but do Sky really give a toss?

There was action at both ends from the off - Rochdale first went close then Pavel Abbot was put through only to hit the ball straight at the keeper.

We didn't have to wait long for first blood though after a nice bit of interplay saw the ball bounce up nicely for Jason Kennedy who looped the ball over their keeper - an absolute scorcher. But had we peaked too early?

The goal stunned Rochdale - not just the players but the crowd who suddenly went very quiet and nervous. Darlo fans all know this sensation far too well because we've experienced it enough times at home games - freezing on the big occasion.

Thereafter Rochdale had the lion's share of possession but didn't make it tell - White and Miller dealt with most things thrown at us and when Dale did get through on goal they either blazed wide or made it relatively easy for Kazimierczak to save.

Darlo were no slouches though and had their own chances during the half - Abbot wasted a great chance to put Poole though on goal and Miller beat their keeper only to head wide - but it was Kennedy's goal that separated the teams at half-time.

Rochdale came out fighting in the second half and Darlo rarely got out of their half in the first ten minutes but we slowly came back into it a bit and looked dangerous on the break until we finally doubled our lead in the 65th minute.

From a partially cleared corner, captain Ricky Ravenhill headed the ball back into the box - from this Abbott looped his header against the post and a Dale defender knocked it into his own net while attempting to clear the ball.

Rochdale never really recovered from this - they huffed and puffed for the remainder of the half but Darlo more or less closed the defensive doors and ran down the clock.

A well-deserved victory through hard-work and team play.

(left) Colin and Martin in the Baum

We popped back into the Baum, dragging Martin with us, for a celebratory pint and to enjoy the moment - very sweet. We can be magnanimous in victory when we have to...

We then wandered back to the station and headed back into Manchester for a trawl of some of the pubs between Victoria and Piccadilly stations.

First point of call was the Smithfield Hotel - a veritable Mecca for tickers - where I had a pint of some hoppy Easter beer - I stopped paying too much attention at this point. It's a cheap and cheerful hotel reminiscent of the Dalesman - the bar is a bit rough and ready but it was full of folk ticking beers and watching the Villa-West Ham game. And with some small dogs in attendance, what more do you want?

From here it was just a short walk along Swan Street to the Crown and Kettle - a nice pub which has a very ornate ceiling of which only part has been renovated - some decent beers on tap as well. We had a pint here but as soon as the Arsenal-Chelsea FA Cup came on the TV we voted to move on.

Just over the road is Bar Fringe - it doesn't look the type of place to do real ale from the outside but they had four beers on tap when we were there - and a nice lively atmosphere. It's been described as an authentic recreation of an Amsterdam brown bar - hmm, not quite that but worth a visit all the same.

A pint was enough for us both at this point - Colin had already gone for his train home - and we soon followed in his footsteps to catch the 18:55 to Euston. Not surprisingly we were soon out for the count, waking in time for another on-time arrival.

A very good day out in all respects and for me, a great way to end the away trips for this season - good rail journey, great pubs and a great result.